support , along with an air @ - @ field construction squadron . the royal australian navy also served in malaya ##n waters , firing on suspected communist positions between 1956 and 1957 . the emergency was the longest continued commitment in australian military history ; 7 @ , @ 000 australians served and 51 died in malaya — although only 15 were on operations — and another 27 were wounded . = = = military and naval growth during the 1960s = = = at the start of the 1960s , prime minister robert men ##zie ##s greatly expanded the australian military so that it could carry out the government ' s policy of " forward defence " in south east asia . in 1964 , men
support, along with an air @ - @ field construction squadron. the royal australian navy also served in malayan waters, firing on suspected communist positions between 1956 and 1957. the emergency was the longest continued commitment in australian military history ; 7 @, @ 000 australians served and 51 died in malaya — although only 15 were on operations — and another 27 were wounded. = = = military and naval growth during the 1960s = = = at the start of the 1960s, prime minister robert menzies greatly expanded the australian military so that it could carry out the government's policy of " forward defence " in south east asia. in 1964, men